Old Jersey, New Jersey
by starshollow
Summary: K/T (AU): Tess reminisces to the good old days in the midst of a move.


2015 - Ridgewood, New Jersey  
  
"That's the last of it," Tess said satisfactorily as she set the last box down. She looked around the room, gazing at all the boxes and furniture that cluttered the living room of their new home. It was amazing that all of this stuff had been crammed into the tiny apartment they'd had during college, and what was more amazing is that this wasn't even all of it. Most of the stuff had been weeded through and only the necessary things kept when they were packing.  
  
As she went into the bedroom to unpack the clothes and things, she noticed the boxes were already divided and set up in neat rows, all of them clearly labeled as to what was in them, who it belonged to, and where it went. It amazed Tess that her man had such feminine qualities.  
  
"He must have picked up his organizational skills while dating Liz," Tess thought to herself.  
  
Chalk up another one for little Lizzie Parker. Tess went over to where all her boxes were, on the left side of the bed, nearest the window.  
  
"He remembered..." she thought to herself, "I'll have to remember to thank him later."  
  
Once she finished unpacking her things, she decided that she'd unpack his things too. After all, surely he wouldn't mind, he couldn't possibly care if she did it for him, in fact he might actually appreciate it.  
  
"Yeah right!" Tess thought to herself.  
  
She began to sift through the boxes of Kyle's, putting his clothes away in the closet and dresser, putting his magazines and papers and receipts and things in his nightstand.  
  
When she finished with the last of the boxes, she stood up, her legs stiffened, arguing with her brain as to whether it was time for them to wake up. She turned around, satisfied with the job she'd done, when she came across one last box. It was at the head of the bed, and partially under, with no indication as to its contents, other than his name scrawled across one side. She opened the flaps carefully, not wanting to disturb its contents, but simply take a peek inside. It was dusty, as if it hadn't been opened in several years.  
  
"That's funny," thought Tess, "I was sure we'd unpacked all of the boxes when we moved into the old apartment."  
  
She pulled out the contents, one by one, all of them wrapped carefully in old newsprint. The first was a small Buddha statue; she'd gotten it for him for Christmas the year she came to stay with the Valenti's. It was old, and obviously well handled, for the outside metal coating was tarnished and rubbing off in places. She kissed her finger and rubbed its tummy, wrapping it back up carefully before moving on to the next item.  
  
Next were a series of trophies, awards, and other memorabilia from his high school football career. She knew he still had his letterman's jacket, because it still hung in the closet and she wore it around the house on occasion, usually when he was out of town. However, she hadn't realized how much of the other stuff he'd kept. She wrapped each of the trophies back up with care, and set them aside.  
  
When she reached in to grab the next item, she gasped. She felt around a bit, and then glanced into the box. Sure enough, it was his jersey, the same one he'd worn to all the games. The same one he'd come home to find her wearing and lying on his bed, looking at his porn magazines and book on Buddhism back in junior year.  
  
She pulled it out of the box slowly, unfolding it carefully and holding it up to her face. It smelled like him. After all these years tucked away in a box, and it still smelled like him. She inhaled once more, it was the perfect combination of all things him. It was the smell that over the years had lulled her to sleep many a time when he was away working in New York, the smell that she had learned to associate with safety, love, friendship, and warmth. She thought back to that day when she'd first picked in up out of his dresser and put it on. It was the first time in her life when she'd actually felt accepted, safe, and loved. She put it on over her head and began to remember.  
  
2000 - Roswell, New Mexico  
  
(Kyle strolls into his room to find Tess on his bed reading one of his magazines)  
  
KYLE: Hey. This is my room and that's my jersey.  
  
TESS: Sorry.  
  
(Tess starts to take off Kyle's jersey)  
  
KYLE: No! All right, look. You wear it.  
  
TESS: Kind of uptight about nudity, aren't you, for a guy who reads Jugs?  
  
KYLE: Give me that!  
  
Tess snapped out of her reverie at the sound of the door opening. She laughed at the memory and quickly put the items back in the box, keeping the jersey on. She jumped up and left the room, being pulled in the direction of the voices and giggling coming from the living room.  
  
"Daddy... Daddy... stop it, don't tickle me!" squealed Alia. But the tickling continued until they were both out of breath. It was only then that they noticed Tess's presence in the hallway.  
  
"Mommy!" Alia squealed and ran over to Tess, begging to be picked up.  
  
Tess picked her up and kissed her on the cheek. She hugged her tightly and then set her back down on her feet.  
  
"What have you and daddy been up to, sweetie?"  
  
"You mean before or after the trip to the park, the toy store, the ice cream shoppe, and the movie?" Kyle piped up.  
  
"Oh my, you two really have been busy haven't you," Tess replied, "Come on, old man, get up, Alia's already ready to play again."  
  
"Your ... turn," Kyle puffed between breaths.  
  
"Come on, Daddy, get up, it's still sunny, come play with me," Alia begged.  
  
"Yeah, honey, get up and go play already, you're not too old to keep up with a five year old are you?" Tess teased.  
  
Tess offered her hand to Kyle, who grinned devilishly and pulled her down on top of him.  
  
Now, Alia found this display extremely amusing, Tess, however, was angry that she let herself fall subject to his obvious trap. Kyle, however, couldn't have cared less, and took the opportunity to kiss his wife.  
  
"Have I told you that you look really great when you're pissed?" he whispered in her ear, and proceeded to kiss her neck.  
  
"Not now, Kyle," Tess whispered back, and pulled away and looked in Alia's direction. She'd stopped laughing and was now occupied with a toy that her daddy must have gotten her on their adventure.  
  
"See, she's busy, therefore we can be busy too," Kyle said, and pulled Tess back to him and kissed her.  
  
"Mommy, Daddy, stop it, that's yucky!" Alia squealed.  
  
"You were saying..." Tess chided him, before she stood up and helped him up.  
  
"Alia, why don't you go put your new toys in your room, mommy unpacked all your stuff, so you can play with your dolls again," Tess told her.  
  
"Goody!" Alia said as she scrambled off down the hall to her new room.  
  
"I see you've been through my stuff already, too," Kyle said, as he came up behind her and put his arms around her.  
  
"Mmmhmm..." Tess said, relaxing into his embrace.  
  
"I think you enjoy wearing that jersey more than I did," Kyle said.  
  
"It's comfy, plus I happen to think that I look good in blue," Tess said, turning around to face him.  
  
"You know I think you look good in anything," Kyle said.  
  
"Yeah, but you're biased," Tess said.  
  
"You know, it's good to see you in that again, it suits you," Kyle said.  
  
"Does it suit me simply because it has your name on it, Mr. Valenti?" Tess questioned.  
  
"Yeah, that has something to do with it," Kyle admitted. Tess just laughed.  
  
"This reminds me of when we were seventeen," Kyle said.  
  
"You mean back when trimming lamps was the cool thing to do?" Tess asked.  
  
"Not that it still isn't, am I right?" Kyle said.  
  
"You men are all the same, such horn dogs," Tess said, laughing, as she headed off to the kitchen to cook dinner.  
  
"Yeah, but you women love us anyway," Kyle said, following her. 


End file.
